Hooray! Once more it is my favorite month of the year, both for its cultural significance as well as what one is allowed to publish for their newspaper. For a second time, here are five albums made by Black individuals worthy of your interest and listenership during this Black History Month. From spiritual jazz to thoughtful rap, the gamut is run by these talented individuals committing themselves to their artwork. Please enjoy and add the following works to your streaming library, because if any art is worth your attention, it is the art that you will soon read about.
Voodoo (2000)
Drums by Questlove of The Roots, produced by the legendary beatmaker J Dilla and featuring verses from members of the Wu Tang Clan: what else could you want in an album? Well, when D’Angelo croons in your ear for over an hour beautifully grooving from beat to beat, all you’ll need is provided.
With grooves constructed around producer Dilla’s off kilter, naturalistic drum rhythms which made his group Slum Village famous in the ‘90s and early 2000s, this album feels like no other. Songs like “One Mo’Gin” and “The Line” truly feel transcendent, arguably being the best head-rocking music ever, and his cover of Roberta Flack’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love” is one of the best covers in history. And of course, one would be remiss not to mention the sensual “Untitled (How Does It Feel),” along with the impact it had on birth rates throughout our world.
Give “Voodoo” one listen and your world may never be the same…
Hypnos (2022)
If you’ve ever thought to yourself, ‘Pop music is so boring nowadays,’ you may simply be listening to the wrong pop. Take Ravyn Lenae, for example: some of the freshest pop production you’ll hear today comes from tracks off her 2022 debut “Hypnos,” with songs like “Venom,” “3D” and “Deep in the World” sounding as vibrant and exciting as anything you’ve danced to in the past 10 years. Singing alongside fellow new-school R&B artists Steve Lacy, Mereba, Smino and Fousheé, Lenae holds her own and gives these songs a shape worthy of the Billboard Hot 100.
Why Ravyn Lenae is not a household name may be one of the greatest mysteries of this decade. Combining pop with R&B, Neo-soul, House, Afro-beat and a bit of Trap effortlessly across 54 minutes all while singing as ethereal as an angel, she proves she is a treasure we all must cherish.
With a perfect title, this hypnotic record will restore your faith in pop music.
Karma (1969)
A man walked on the moon for the first time the year this album came out, yet “Karma” still feels as emotive and raw as if it were happening live, right now and next to you. This is spiritual jazz, brash, uncomfortable at times to listen to, incredibly long for its track listing or simply may not be your vibe, but if it clicks with you, it clicks hard.
To be candid, I used to listen to this album during high school track meets prior to my 800 meter races, and without fail its rattling percussion and frantic horns cleared my mind. Though I haven’t had any athletic competition since that would require such focus, its cleansing ability has not been lost and in fact feels stronger with each passing year. Maybe even those men on the moon listened to Pharaoh Sanders, just to get their minds in the right place to transcend Earth.
You might love this, you might hate this the first seconds you hear, but you’ll never know unless you walk out of your atmosphere.
We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service (2016)
In 2026, music listeners are all too familiar with the poorly conceived posthumous album, something which can feel rushed, unnecessary, or simply in bad taste. A Tribe Called Quest’s “We Got It from Here…” is the antithesis of all these descriptors and is arguably their best album to date as it honors the late Tribe rapper Phife Dawg and features much of his voice across the 16 tracks present.
With verses from Tribe regulars Busta Rhymes and Consequence; legends from Tribe’s era André 3000 and Talib Kweli; as well as more recent talents Kendrick Lamar and Yebba, “We Got It from Here…” effectively bridges the musical and cultural gap felt after Tribe’s 18 year absence. Discussing topics like housing discrimination, drug abuse, racist politicians, identity regression and their own cultural legacy over the grooviest beats you may have ever heard, it was as if they hadn’t taken any time off in the first place.
Thoughtful and thoroughly re-playable, after listening to this all one can do is thank Tribe for their service.
Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (1972)
Ballads have never sounded so achingly beautiful as they do here on Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s self-titled collaborative album. It would be an understatement to say that Flack and Hathaway go all out on some of these songs with them all sounding like the album’s creation was tied to these singers’ own lives, as if they could not live if all of their experiences were not poured into their performances.
Again, saying they succeeded in conveying their emotions would be inapt wording, but then again, there are very few words for the talent expressed here. The slow-moving “I (Who Have Nothing)” and “Come Ye Disconsolate” rock your soul back and forth, while “Where Is the Love” and “You’ve Got a Friend” feel like a pat on the back, or a hug from a friend as they soulfully wrap around you. This album may even have the song of the month with their touching “Be Real Black For Me,” singing to each other affirmations of their beauty with no need for alterations or withheld feelings.
Essential for all soul fans and soul havers, Flack and Hathaway are here for you.
Some say we stand on the shoulders of giants, but with albums like these, they feel more like titans. Whether decades old or only a few years, these albums stand firmly as artistic and individual visions which inspire millions and could never be replaced by code or repressive regimes: music is borne of joy, pain, success, struggle and experience, all of which can never be copied or taken from any of us. Happy Black History Month, and I’ll see you next week with five Black films for your consideration.
